Ibn Warraq - Why I Am Not a Muslim

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326 WHY I AM NOT A MUSLIM Two young sisters were taken to a hospital, 618 where the doctor diagnosed an infection of the bones caused by a lack of sunlight. The girls' father had forbidden them to leave their home. This forced seclusion sometimes takes a bizarre and tragic form, as in the case of those <strong>Muslim</strong> girls known as the Brides of the Koran, who are compelled by their families to marry the Koran. In large feudal, land-owning families, especially in the province of Sind, women are allowed to marry only within the family—in many cases only to first cousins—to ensure that the family property stays in the family. A marriage outside the family would entail a break up of the property when the woman inherited her proper share of the family estate. When the family runs out of eligible male cousins, the young woman is forced to marry the Koran in a ceremony exactly like a real wedding except that the bridegroom is lacking. The bride is sumptuously dressed, guests are invited, food, and festivities follow. At the ceremony itself, the bride is instructed to place her hand on the Koran, and she is wedded to the holy book. The rest of her life is spent in total seclusion from the outside world. She is not allowed to see a man—in some cases, not even on television. These brides are expected to devote their time to studying the Koran or doing craft work. Such desolate emptiness takes its toll, and many of the brides of the Koran become mentally ill. As one out of an estimated 3,000 brides of the Koran in the Sind put it, "I wish I had been born when the Arabs buried their daughters alive. Even that would have been better than this torture." Little did Jinnah realize how literally true his words were when he said in a 1944 speech: 619 "No nation can rise to the height of glory unless your women are side by side with you. We are victims of evil customs. It is a crime against humanity that our women are shut up within the four walls of the houses as prisoners." Despite the secular vision of its founder, Jinnah, Pakistan has drifted toward a theocratic state. Pakistani politicians have been totally cowardly in giving in to the demands of the mullas. Fear of fundamentalists has only encouraged the fundamentalists even more. It is difficult for the largely secularized West to realize what power these people can sometimes wield over the masses, encouraging them to carry out the most vile acts imaginable, all in the name of God. For instance, a mob in Karachi, hysterically manipulated by a mulla, stoned to death an abandoned infant on the presumption that it was illegitimate and thus could not be tolerated. Another mob cut off a man's hand because the mulla leading them alleged that the man was a thief; no proof, no trial, just the mulla's word. Benazir Bhutto has moved more and more toward appeasing the religious right. It would be just as well to remind her of her own words uttered in 1992 when she was not in power: Does [Pakistan] want to be a democracy in which human rights are respected and where an enlightened vision of Islam prevails Or will it be content to make do with an authoritarian government dominated by fundamentalists And which authority should legislate—parliament or the federal court dispens-
Women and Islam 327 ing the sharia (Islamic law) In the absence of answers to these questions, the situation is confused today, and confusion spawns anarchy. (Le Monde, March 4, 1992) But we do not need to leave with a completely pessimistic picture. Pakistani women have shown themselves to be very courageous, and more and more are fighting for their rights with the help of equally brave organizations such as Women's Action Forum (WAF) and War Against Rape. WAF was formed in 1981 as women came onto the streets to protest against the Hudood Ordinances, and to demonstrate their solidarity with a couple who had recently been sentenced to death by stoning for fornication. In 1983, women organized the first demonstrations against martial law.
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Muslims are the first victims of Is
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Published 1995 by Prometheus Books
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Contents Foreword R. Joseph Hoffman
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Foreword R. Joseph Hoffmann Westmin
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Hoffmann: Foreword xi culture, sinc
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Preface I was born into a Muslim fa
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Acknowledgments I am not a scholar
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Introduction It is well to bear in
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1 The Rushdie Affair Before 14 Febr
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The Rushdie Affair 5 mentators. Das
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The Rushdie Affair 7 Every Muslim w
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The Rushdie Affair 9 It is not gene
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The Rushdie Affair 11 Rushdie, or c
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The Rushdie Affair 13 just a few na
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The Rushdie Affair 15 Western schol
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The Rushdie Affair 17 had the corre
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The Rushdie Affair 19 their religio
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The Rushdie Affair 21 Chinese, who
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The Rushdie Affair 23 its spiritual
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The Rushdie Affair 25 orientalists
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The Rushdie Affair 27 But the moder
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The Rushdie Affair 29 off from comp
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The Rushdie Affair 31 debate taboo:
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The Rushdie Affair 33 This is but a
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The Origins of Islam 35 profane spi
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The Origins of Islam 37 where Musli
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The Origins of Islam 39 Society in
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The Origins of Islam 41 According t
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The Origins of Islam 43 Zoroastrian
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The Origins of Islam 45 Day, two an
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The Origins of Islam 47 you have se
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The Origins of Islam 49 Macdonald f
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The Origins of Islam 51 A. Ideas an
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The Origins of Islam 53 in Jewish w
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The Origins of Islam 55 Korah and h
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The Origins of Islam 57 I am create
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The Origins of Islam 59 ment cut th
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The Origins of Islam 61 missed disc
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MISUNDERSTANDING OF THE STORY OF MA
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The Origins of Islam 65 were dark f
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The Problem of Sources 67 who died
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The Problem of Sources 69 propounde
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The Problem of Sources 71 Hadiths w
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The Problem of Sources 73 Schacht "
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The Problem of Sources 75 Earlier s
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The Problem of Sources 77 control o
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The Problem of Sources 79 Throughou
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The Problem of Sources 81 whence th
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The Problem of Sources 83 also seem
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The Problem of Sources 85 about eve
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Muhammad and His Message 87 to pass
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Muhammad and His Message 89 underst
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Muhammad and His Message 91 that wi
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Muhammad and His Message 93 At abou
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Muhammad and His Message 95 work in
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Muhammad and His Message 97 followe
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Muhammad and His Message 99 also ev
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Muhammad and His Message 101 unexpe
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Muhammad and His Message 103 The ch
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The Koran 105 The Koran is written
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The Koran 107 As Goldziher 233 poin
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The Koran 109 the Medinan Codex, co
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The Koran 111 On the whole, while m
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The Koran 113 a passage otherwise h
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The Koran 115 need revising so ofte
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The Koran 117 Monotheism does seem
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The Koran 119 Why may not several d
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The Koran 121 absurd and impious. N
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The Koran 123 with all the attendan
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The Koran 125 Before commenting on
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The Koran 127 We cannot escape our
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The Koran 129 been taken, to the be
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The Koran 131 only one individual.
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The Koran 133 basis of what we know
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The Koran 135 Two days for the eart
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The Koran 137 so there must have be
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The Koran 139 to itself, under the
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The Koran 141 that kind of lazy way
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The Koran 143 disclaimers, there ar
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The Koran 145 It is here that we fi
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The Koran 147 But a voice cried to
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The Koran 149 no historian will loo
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The Koran 151 example, Mark 1.14-15
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The Koran 153 Since, then, these la
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The Koran 155 rection confront the
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The Koran 157 When one places life'
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The Koran 159 historically; we are
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The Koran 161 whose family fled Eas
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The Totalitarian Nature of Islam Bo
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The Totalitarian Nature of Islam 16
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Is Islam Compatible with Democracy
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Arab Imperialism, Islamic Coloniali
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The Arab Conquests and the Position
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10 Heretics and Heterodoxy, Atheism
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Heretics and Heterodoxy, Atheism an
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11 Greek Philosophy and Science and
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Greek Philosophy and Science and Th
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Page 291 and 292: Greek Philosophy and Science and Th
Page 293 and 294: Sufism or Islamic Mysticism 277 who
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Page 299 and 300: In other words, it would have been
Page 301 and 302: Al-Ma'arri 285 Margoliouth has comp
Page 303 and 304: Al-Ma'arri 287 20 O fools, awake! T
Page 305 and 306: Al-Ma'arri 289 Here the Paradise of
Page 307 and 308: Women and Islam 291 He who believes
Page 309 and 310: Women and Islam 293 reluctantly. Hi
Page 311 and 312: Women and Islam 295 From these slen
Page 313 and 314: Women and Islam 297 37.149-50. Now
Page 315 and 316: Women and Islam 299 they were ungra
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Page 321 and 322: Women and Islam 305 Here we might s
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Page 325 and 326: Women and Islam 309 obedient. Women
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Page 333 and 334: Women and Islam 317 chador, held in
Page 335 and 336: Women and Islam 319 of reason—she
Page 337 and 338: Women and Islam 321 of God, then no
Page 339 and 340: Women and Islam 323 not going fast
Page 341: Women and Islam 325 has changed. Sh
Page 345 and 346: Taboos: Wine, Pigs, and Homosexuali
Page 361 and 362: Final Assessment of Muhammad 345 Bu
Page 363 and 364: Final Assessment of Muhammad 347 th
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Page 367 and 368: 17 Islam in the West In Europe, the
Page 369 and 370: Islam in the West 353 An imam, a pr
Page 371 and 372: Islam in the West 355 it occurs, th
Page 373 and 374: Islam in the West 357 THE BETRAYAL
Page 375 and 376: Islam in the West 359 The Betrayal
Page 377 and 378: Glossary ABD. Slave. Common in name
Page 379 and 380: Glossary 363 MlDRASH. A Jewish term
Page 381 and 382: Abbreviations of Journals and Encyc
Page 383 and 384: 368 WHY I AM NOT A MUSLIM 31. Dante
Page 385 and 386: 370 WHY I AM NOT A MUSLIM 124. Nold
Page 387 and 388: 372 WHY I AM NOT A MUSLIM 218. Hogb
Page 389 and 390: 374 WHY I AM NOT A MUSLIM 312. Ibid
Page 391 and 392: 376 WHY I AM NOT A MUSLIM 406. Quot
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378 WHY I AM NOT A MUSLIM 500. Arbe
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380 WHY I AM NOT A MUSLIM 592. Ibid
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Selected Bibliography Abdallah, Ano
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Selected Bibliography 385 Ettinghau
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Selected Bibliography 387 Macey, D.
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Selected Bibliography 389 Thompson,
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392 Index Andrae, Tor, 96-97, 344 A
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394 Index Gabrieli, F, 249, 252, 26
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396 Index 117-18,228-29,305-306,332
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398 Index Marida, 232 Marids, 117 M
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400 Index Quine, W. V, 159 Qunbul,
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402 Index Virgin Birth, 144-46 Volt
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that one has an opportunity to show
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Ibn Warraq - Why I Am Not a Muslim

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